Dream with me
by NovaChridhe
Summary: Infinite Tsukuyomi. A dream build from desire. It reaches into the depths of your soul, bringing fourth a dream that you desired above all else. Sometimes that was something one never would have imagined, if one was awake. And now that they were, they had to come to terms with it. One-Shot. Part of a series of one-shots called "Dream with me". Part 1


The war was won. Madara was defeated, so was Kaguya. But there had been many losses. Too many, for such a short time. Two days and the whole of the shinobi was cut in half.

They were still in shock about what happened and even their victory didn't really help in easing the pain. They had to rebuild and work out how they should go on from there, how they could get over this war. But first, came the mourning.

They tried to collect every corpse, from every battlefield. Tried to bring everyone home, even if only in a body bag. But there were still some missing. Not everyone could be found. It was awful.

Bodies were brought home and the day after the last was secured, there had been a ceremony on the outskirts of the last battlefield in memory of the lost.

Life had to go on. Slowly, but surely. So they went home. To Konoha.

Konoha was home, even if it was now different due to Pains attack. It wasn't even finished yet, there was still so much to rebuild. So they worked.

Working helped. But they didn't talk, at least not at first. Two months went by, before the first one spoke of what happened. It was a tentative step towards healing.

After another month the Konoha twelve, now eleven, went Barbecue eating. Talking about old times, laughing, crying, remembering. Toasting to the friend that was missing, leaving an empty seat among them. Healing was slow, but they did it together.

Over the months since the war, since they first spoke about what happened, they talked about a lot. But one thing they didn't talk about, not least someone brought it up themselves and never was it questioned or asked for more. Because this was private.

Infinite Tsukuyomi. A dream build from desire. It reaches into the depths of your soul, bringing fourth a dream that you desired above all else. Sometimes that was something one never would have imagined, if one was awake.

So asking another what they had dreamed about was quickly regarded as rude and unacceptable. But sharing your dream on your own, even in parts, was rather intimate and spoke of a strong bond between the two sharing.

On another night, were the Konoha twelve, no eleven, only eleven now, went out for Barbecue and reminisced, someone brought their dream up. It wasn't much, just a sentence. And from there another said something about their dream and then another and then another. Only bits and pieces, nothing to form a whole dream, a whole life.

It was Hinata who had started it. Said that Neji was still alive in her dream. Silence overcame them after her statement, pain edged into all of their expressions. Especially Team Guy.

After what felt like an eternity, Tenten opened her eyes and said that Neji was probably in all there dreams, which everyone conceded to, mumbling their agreement.

"But I was also a famous weapons mistress.", she said after a moment, which garnered her a few laughs, because she was already a famous weapons mistress.

"I was the most youthful Taijutsu specialist, even surpassing Guy-sensei.", Lee said, still with tears in his eyes. And so it went on, everyone saying one or two things about their dream, or as much as they were comfortable with sharing.

They laughed at some of them, with others they agreed. Because Kiba being Hokage would probably never happen and he grudgingly agreed. Though Shino discovering a new insect was more likely.

Narutos contribution to their sharing round surprised some of them, had they expected to hear him say that he did become Hokage in his dream. But they also all understood when he said with a wistful smile: "I grew up having parents."

After that evening, whenever they all met, sometimes they would share another little titbit of their dreams. Except Naruto, his only ever contribution to their dreams was that first time, stating that he had had parents growing up. No one ever asked, though they were curious. But they also knew that if he wanted to share with them, he would.

But Naruto didn't share. Wasn't sure he ever would. Had it been a dream, a desire, he never even thought about. And now that he's seen that desire, he didn't know what to do about it. How to even come to terms with it. But the longer he brooded over it, the more he saw the truth in it and the more he didn't know how to face it and the person that truth belonged to.

Though avoiding that particular person seemed to be quite easy, since they appeared to avoid Naruto too for some reason. And when they met, though they acted the same as usual, they never quite saw the other in the eye. Something had changed between them, but they weren't ready to face that yet.

Days went by, then weeks and months. After a while those months became years. The details of the dream got hazy, some forgotten. But the feeling of it, the feeling stayed. Always.

It wasn't until years have passed, their relationship completely changed from what it once was, that Naruto asked a rather rude question.

They had just had lunch after a training exercise. Sitting cross legged, back turned to his lover and face turned upward to the sun, just enjoying the others presence. He asked: "What did you dream about?" and waited. When after a few minutes still no answer came, he didn't even feel disappointed. He hadn't expected an answer anyway. After all it was quite rude to ask.

When he heard his lover shifting behind him, Naruto thought for a moment he would go, but then he only turned a page in his book. And then he got his answer. Quiet, so only he could hear it, though no one else was anywhere near them. It was only a whisper, but that was enough for him. A quiet confirmation of something he had already suspected.

A single word that made him smile. He hummed, letting himself fall against his lovers back. And for the first time in years he said something about his own dream.

"Me too, Kakashi."


End file.
